Vertically VAR proved that the goal was legal..Japan looked more hungry and deserved the win What a big difference it can make if your entire team plays in Europe and you have a strong domestic league!
ok watched the japan spain hls 1st Spain goal - The disadvantage of short Japaneese height got exposed. Alvaro Morata jumps over the Japan defence to an easy finish. 1st Japan goal - Poor goalkeeping error from Unai Simon. I think De Gea being a good shot stopper would have saved that. 2nd Japan goal - The ball was out of the line. We can see that clearly. What is the purpose of VAR technology then?
Yes I'm happy that an Asian team won but it shouldn't be due to some refreeing errors.
I completely agree with you. Japan played excellent football and deserved to go to the next round but the VAR error took some sheen off their victory
Meanwhile, Belgium ranked 2 in FIFA rankings, bowed out in the first round itself!!
Some of the sitters that Lukaku missed had to be seen to be believed
So sad Belgium wasted their golden generation. Now they are super aged almost everyone is above 30. For the next Euros they need to overhaul and they might never have a complete squad as they had for the last 6-7 years.
Day 12 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup saw it's share of upsets as Group E and Group F came to their conclusions. Morocco finished top of Group E with a 2-1 win over Canada, while Romelu Lukaku had a nightmare in front of goal as Belgium drew Croatia 0-0 to crash out of the competition. Germany joined Belgium in leaving Qatar as their 4-2 comeback victory over Costa Rica went in vain, given Japan pulled off a smash-and-grab to defeat Spain 2-1.
By The Numbers has the best stats from the four World Cup matches played on Thursday:
Morocco joined Senegal in the Round of 16, tying 2014 as the FIFA World Cup (Nigeria and Algeria) with the most African teams in the knockout stage (2). Ghana and Cameroon are still in contention to advance.
1
Youssef En-Nesyri is the first Moroccan player to score a goal in two different World Cup campaigns (2018 and 2022).
6
Canada have lost all six of their matches at the World Cup - the joint-worst 100% losing record in the competition along with El Salvador.
1
Morocco are the first African team to top their World Cup group since Nigeria in 1998. This was also only the second-ever time they made it to the knockout stage since first doing so in 1986.
Lukaku came on as a halftime substitute. His 1.67 xG was the third most in any half by a player in a World Cup Game since 1966. Additionally, 17 players with at least 1.15 xG in a half in a World Cup match since 1966 scored at least 1 goal in the half.
3
Belgium ended a streak of 3 straight World Cup appearances reaching the knockout stage. This is the team's first elimination in the Group Stage since 1998.
0-0
Croatia are 11th team with multiple 0-0 draws in group stage; 10 of those 11 teams advanced (the sole exception was 1982 Cameroon).
This is quite the stat. Since detailed World Cup records began (1966), there are only two instances of a team losing a game despite attempting 700+ passes: Spain vs Japan on Thursday and Germany vs Japan last week.
3
Only three teams have won two different games at a single edition of the World Cup when losing at half-time: Brazil in 1938, Germany in 1970 and Japan in 2022.
9
Alvaro Morata is Spain's Mr. Reliable. They have scored nine goals at the World Cup and European Championships since 2016, more than twice as many as any other Spain player in this period.
17.7%
With 17.7% of the ball, Japan won a World Cup game with the lowest possession figure in recorded WC history.
Very simply, xG (or expected goals) is the probability that a shot will result in a goal based on the characteristics of that shot and the events leading up to it. Some of these characteristics/variables include:
Location of shooter: How far was it from the goal and at what angle on the pitch?
Body part: Was it a header or off the shooter's foot?
Type of pass: Was it from a through ball, cross, set piece, etc?
Type of attack: Was it from an established possession? Was it off a rebound? Did the defense have time to get in position? Did it follow a dribble?
Every shot is compared to thousands of shots with similar characteristics to determine the probability that this shot will result in a goal. That probability is the expected goal total. An xG of 0 is a certain miss, while an xG of 1 is a certain goal. An xG of .5 would indicate that if identical shots were attempted 10 times, 5 would be expected to result in a goal.
There are a number of xG models that use similar techniques and variables, which attempt to reach the same conclusion. The model that FBref uses is provided by Opta. Opta's xG model includes a number of factors above just factors such as the location and angle. Their model also accounts for the clarity of the shooter's path to the goal, the amount of pressure the shooter is under from defensive players, the position of the goalkeeper, and more. That means that their xG model factors in the defense and goalkeeping when determining the odds of the shot reaching the goal.
Take this Diego Jota goal vs Southampton for example. The shot was taken directly in front of the goal from very close range. It's a very good chance. Using an older model that accounts for location, angle, pass type, and such, it would have a 0.68 xG. However, Opta's model also accounts for the fact that the goalkeeper is out of position and there's no defender in the way, which boosts the xG of this shot even higher, to 0.90.
xG does not take into account the quality of player(s) involved in a particular play. It is an estimate of how the average player or team would perform in a similar situation.
@indian_gooner: From what I understand, since an xG of 1 is a certain goal, Lukaku, who had an xG of 1.67, had a very high chance of scoring goals, but he missed them.
"His 1.67 xG was the third most in any half by a player in a World Cup Game since 1966."--This means, that since 1966, only two more players, in a single half, have had more chances of scoring goals than Lukaku
" Additionally, 17 players with at least 1.15 xG in a half in a World Cup match since 1966 scored at least 1 goal in the half."--This means that 17 players since 1966, who have had an xG of 1.15, which is lesser than that of Lukaku, have scored at least one goal. This implies that Lukaku had avery high chance of scoring at least a goal
Comments
What a big difference it can make if your entire team plays in Europe and you have a strong domestic league!
The Argentina-Poland and the Mexico-Saudi Arabia matches (particularly) were two another roller-coasters. This was even more tumultuous though
Great advertisement for the World Cup
Some of the sitters that Lukaku missed had to be seen to be believed
Some Interesting stats
Day 12 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup saw it's share of upsets as Group E and Group F came to their conclusions. Morocco finished top of Group E with a 2-1 win over Canada, while Romelu Lukaku had a nightmare in front of goal as Belgium drew Croatia 0-0 to crash out of the competition. Germany joined Belgium in leaving Qatar as their 4-2 comeback victory over Costa Rica went in vain, given Japan pulled off a smash-and-grab to defeat Spain 2-1.
By The Numbers has the best stats from the four World Cup matches played on Thursday:
Canada 1-2 Morocco
2
Morocco joined Senegal in the Round of 16, tying 2014 as the FIFA World Cup (Nigeria and Algeria) with the most African teams in the knockout stage (2). Ghana and Cameroon are still in contention to advance.
1
Youssef En-Nesyri is the first Moroccan player to score a goal in two different World Cup campaigns (2018 and 2022).
6
Canada have lost all six of their matches at the World Cup - the joint-worst 100% losing record in the competition along with El Salvador.
1
Morocco are the first African team to top their World Cup group since Nigeria in 1998. This was also only the second-ever time they made it to the knockout stage since first doing so in 1986.
Croatia 0-0 Belgium
1.67
Lukaku came on as a halftime substitute. His 1.67 xG was the third most in any half by a player in a World Cup Game since 1966. Additionally, 17 players with at least 1.15 xG in a half in a World Cup match since 1966 scored at least 1 goal in the half.
3
Belgium ended a streak of 3 straight World Cup appearances reaching the knockout stage. This is the team's first elimination in the Group Stage since 1998.
0-0
Croatia are 11th team with multiple 0-0 draws in group stage; 10 of those 11 teams advanced (the sole exception was 1982 Cameroon).
Costa Rica 2-4 Germany
2
Alvaro Morata became the second player to score in his first three FIFA World Cup appearances for Spain, after Telmo Zarra in 1950.
3
Costa Rica have scored more goals (3) than they've had corners (1) in the World Cup
Japan 2-1 Spain
2
This is quite the stat. Since detailed World Cup records began (1966), there are only two instances of a team losing a game despite attempting 700+ passes: Spain vs Japan on Thursday and Germany vs Japan last week.
3
Only three teams have won two different games at a single edition of the World Cup when losing at half-time: Brazil in 1938, Germany in 1970 and Japan in 2022.
9
Alvaro Morata is Spain's Mr. Reliable. They have scored nine goals at the World Cup and European Championships since 2016, more than twice as many as any other Spain player in this period.
17.7%
With 17.7% of the ball, Japan won a World Cup game with the lowest possession figure in recorded WC history.
https://www.espn.in/football/blog-espn-fc-united/story/4822595/2022-world-cup-stats-fifa-japan-incredible-17-germany-nightmare-10
what does it mean?
xG Explained
What is xG?
Very simply, xG (or expected goals) is the probability that a shot will result in a goal based on the characteristics of that shot and the events leading up to it. Some of these characteristics/variables include:
Every shot is compared to thousands of shots with similar characteristics to determine the probability that this shot will result in a goal. That probability is the expected goal total. An xG of 0 is a certain miss, while an xG of 1 is a certain goal. An xG of .5 would indicate that if identical shots were attempted 10 times, 5 would be expected to result in a goal.
There are a number of xG models that use similar techniques and variables, which attempt to reach the same conclusion. The model that FBref uses is provided by Opta. Opta's xG model includes a number of factors above just factors such as the location and angle. Their model also accounts for the clarity of the shooter's path to the goal, the amount of pressure the shooter is under from defensive players, the position of the goalkeeper, and more. That means that their xG model factors in the defense and goalkeeping when determining the odds of the shot reaching the goal.
Take this Diego Jota goal vs Southampton for example. The shot was taken directly in front of the goal from very close range. It's a very good chance. Using an older model that accounts for location, angle, pass type, and such, it would have a 0.68 xG. However, Opta's model also accounts for the fact that the goalkeeper is out of position and there's no defender in the way, which boosts the xG of this shot even higher, to 0.90.
xG does not take into account the quality of player(s) involved in a particular play. It is an estimate of how the average player or team would perform in a similar situation.
https://fbref.com/en/expected-goals-model-explained/
@indian_gooner: From what I understand, since an xG of 1 is a certain goal, Lukaku, who had an xG of 1.67, had a very high chance of scoring goals, but he missed them.
"His 1.67 xG was the third most in any half by a player in a World Cup Game since 1966."--This means, that since 1966, only two more players, in a single half, have had more chances of scoring goals than Lukaku
" Additionally, 17 players with at least 1.15 xG in a half in a World Cup match since 1966 scored at least 1 goal in the half."--This means that 17 players since 1966, who have had an xG of 1.15, which is lesser than that of Lukaku, have scored at least one goal. This implies that Lukaku had avery high chance of scoring at least a goal